Where is the Revival we have been waiting for?

[Jack Shephard]

Hello all I touched on this in another thread on another topic about the FL revival. Tell me what you think.

In the last days I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.....

We keep talking about the 'soon to come' revival that will hit the OP church. Where is it? My real question, why is that everytime a revival and a move of God hits like the one in FL OP's look at it and try to find the wrong in it. We often try to discount it...that is our make-up. i believe we are missing it....the revival is here and yet we sit still waiting on it to arrive. We are like the Jews, waiting on the Messiah but the fact is we missed His first appearing! Are we waiting for a revival to come here and claim it is STILL to come, but yet it is actually here? Since it is not the same color, same shape, same smell, SAME LOOK, same family, same Org, same feel then it ain't the 'real thing.' Are we missing it? I believe so....what say ye?

Remember the world is burning for revival so is the church, but we want it the way we want it...the world will take it any way they can get it!

[OneAccord]

Brother, as long as we try to split the outpouring of the Holy Ghost along doctrinal and or organizational lines, we will never see it. God is not divided. He pours His Spirit upon all flesh. ALL flesh. I remember the 70's and the "Jesus People". God began to move among them in a mighty way. What did we do? We snarled our nose at it and said it wasn't of God... We lifted not one finger to try to coax those long-haired, hippie Jesus freaks into the fullness of truth. We're Apostolic people involved in the Healing Revival? No... cause it ws being led by (egads!) Trinity preachers.

I've heard "revivals" like Brownstown and Smithton mocked and ridiculed, yet, except for small pockets of revival, the Apostolic Church bears little resemblence to Joels prophecy of Joel 2:28. And we claim to have ALL TRUTH. And I think you are right... we want it our way. We want the Joel 2:28 experience, we just don't want to have to endure the Joel 2:17 experience to get it. And we'll never have the one without the other.

Revival that resembles anything like Joel 2;28 isn't born at headquarters. Its not born in a committee room and it doesn't come through a craftily planned program. It is born in the Prayer Closet. A sacrifice must be made to inherit a blessing. The fact is... the Apostolic movement is a divided movement. Plain and simple. And as long as that is the case, and we seem to want it to remain that way.... we'll continue to be left on the bench while "the other team" scores.

[Cindy]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Brother, as long as we try to split the outpouring of the Holy Ghost along doctrinal and or organizational lines, we will never see it. God is not divided. He pours His Spirit upon all flesh. ALL flesh. I remember the 70's and the "Jesus People". God began to move among them in a mighty way. What did we do? We snarled our nose at it and said it wasn't of God... We lifted not one finger to try to coax those long-haired, hippie Jesus freaks into the fullness of truth. We're Apostolic people involved in the Healing Revival? No... cause it ws being led by (egads!) Trinity preachers.

I've heard "revivals" like Brownstown and Smithton mocked and ridiculed, yet, except for small pockets of revival, the Apostolic Church bears little resemblence to Joels prophecy of Joel 2:28. And we claim to have ALL TRUTH. And I think you are right... we want it our way. We want the Joel 2:28 experience, we just don't want to have to endure the Joel 2:17 experience to get it. And we'll never have the one without the other.

Revival that resembles anything like Joel 2;28 isn't born at headquarters. Its not born in a committee room and it doesn't come through a craftily planned program. It is born in the Prayer Closet. A sacrifice must be made to inherit a blessing. The fact is... the Apostolic movement is a divided movement. Plain and simple. And as long as that is the case, and we seem to want it to remain that way.... we'll continue to be left on the bench while "the other team" scores.

The more things change the more things stay the same. I believe the next revival will not be in America.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Brother, as long as we try to split the outpouring of the Holy Ghost along doctrinal and or organizational lines, we will never see it. God is not divided. He pours His Spirit upon all flesh. ALL flesh. I remember the 70's and the "Jesus People". God began to move among them in a mighty way. What did we do? We snarled our nose at it and said it wasn't of God... We lifted not one finger to try to coax those long-haired, hippie Jesus freaks into the fullness of truth. We're Apostolic people involved in the Healing Revival? No... cause it ws being led by (egads!) Trinity preachers.

I've heard "revivals" like Brownstown and Smithton mocked and ridiculed, yet, except for small pockets of revival, the Apostolic Church bears little resemblence to Joels prophecy of Joel 2:28. And we claim to have ALL TRUTH. And I think you are right... we want it our way. We want the Joel 2:28 experience, we just don't want to have to endure the Joel 2:17 experience to get it. And we'll never have the one without the other.

Revival that resembles anything like Joel 2;28 isn't born at headquarters. Its not born in a committee room and it doesn't come through a craftily planned program. It is born in the Prayer Closet. A sacrifice must be made to inherit a blessing. The fact is... the Apostolic movement is a divided movement. Plain and simple. And as long as that is the case, and we seem to want it to remain that way.... we'll continue to be left on the bench while "the other team" scores.

This has been and continues to be our problem as a movement. We are like dogs inside the house looking out the window at everyone passing by...Why do we need to care what other movements do or not do? I don't want to be preacher bashing so I won't mention this name, but I was watching a youtube video of on of our preachers at a camp and he was going on and on about how WE are not THEM (trinitarians)..It's alwasy US vs THEM. Just tell me how to get closer to God and stay there. Just tell me how to hear from God and be led by His Spirit. Just tell me how to be a better soul winner. I don't need a pep rally. I need more of His Spirit. Im not going to get it by making comparisons and making boastful claims about US (which is arrogant) and low claims about THEM.

[Sam]

Revival means resurrection life from the dead. See Romans 14:9 where it says that Jesus revived (rose from the dead).

Revival is happening all around us. Whenever a person who is dead in trespasses and sins receives the life/Spirit of God, his human spirit is revived.

Thousands of people are receiving the life of God all around us, especially in third world countries.

Let's stop using the term "revival" as a carrot on a stick with our preaching that "revival is just around the corner," and let's just enjoy the moving of God all around us. We saw times of "revival" in the early 1900's when the Holy Spirit was poured out in a special way. We saw other times of revival, new life, refreshing in the Spirit in the Healing movement and the Latter Rain movement of the nineteen forties, and in the Jesus movement, and the charismatic movement of the sixties, and in the third wave movement since then.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Brother, as long as we try to split the outpouring of the Holy Ghost along doctrinal and or organizational lines, we will never see it. God is not divided. He pours His Spirit upon all flesh. ALL flesh. I remember the 70's and the "Jesus People". God began to move among them in a mighty way. What did we do? We snarled our nose at it and said it wasn't of God... We lifted not one finger to try to coax those long-haired, hippie Jesus freaks into the fullness of truth. We're Apostolic people involved in the Healing Revival? No... cause it ws being led by (egads!) Trinity preachers.

I've heard "revivals" like Brownstown and Smithton mocked and ridiculed, yet, except for small pockets of revival, the Apostolic Church bears little resemblence to Joels prophecy of Joel 2:28. And we claim to have ALL TRUTH. And I think you are right... we want it our way. We want the Joel 2:28 experience, we just don't want to have to endure the Joel 2:17 experience to get it. And we'll never have the one without the other.

Revival that resembles anything like Joel 2;28 isn't born at headquarters. Its not born in a committee room and it doesn't come through a craftily planned program. It is born in the Prayer Closet. A sacrifice must be made to inherit a blessing. The fact is... the Apostolic movement is a divided movement. Plain and simple. And as long as that is the case, and we seem to want it to remain that way.... we'll continue to be left on the bench while "the other team" scores.

AMEN!!!!!

I received the HGB on May 20, 1956 at Bethel Tabernacle UPC in Racine, Wisconsin. I attended one year 1956/1957 at the Apostolic Bible Institute in St. Paul, MN. I attended a UPC church here in the Cincinnati area from 1957 until some time in the early nineteen sixties. Then I attended an ALJC church from that time until I left in 1978 or maybe 1979. During that time I was a licensed minister at different times with three different organizations --The Church of Jesus Christ; The Church of Jesus Christ Pentecostal Faith; and the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we heard and read about people known as the Jesus People or the Jesus Freaks, and then later on folks called Charismatics we looked down our righteous noses at them. This couldn't be real. They didn't look like us. They didn't dress like us. They didn't baptize like us. They didn't believe like us. The didn't come to us to receive the Holy Ghost Baptism. We thought we had the exclusive franchise for God's Spirit. They went directly to God with hunger and thirst in their hearts, and, as He promised, He filled them. It took a while for this to soak through my hard head and my proud heart. God is pouring out His Spirit on ALL flesh, not just UPC, PAW, CoJC, ALJC, AMF, GIB flesh, but all flesh just like He said in His Word.

[Sam]

I posted this earlier in this discussion (post no. 59) but thought I would post it again.
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This is from a booklet called "The Charismatic Movement, Renewal or Confusion?" which I received from Pastor James Lee Beall quite a while ago (in the 1960's or maybe in the early 1970's). He was pastor of Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit, MI. This church was considered "Latter Rain," "Oneness Pentecostal," or "Apostolic Pentecostal" depending on your viewpoint. In this portion he describes his attitude toward "Charismatics," and tells of being invited to participate in one of their meetings.
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Religious Superiority

It is relatively simple to sit back and criticize every and all religious groups. If you want something to offend you, it will be easily found.

When the Lord God first began to pour the Holy Spirit upon segments of the organized church --the Catholics, the Baptists, the Episcopalians, etc., I sat back to criticize. Believe me, I found plenty that I did not consider right or proper.

How superior I felt as I sat in my detached ivory tower pointing out the wrongs committed by others! There is no feeling quite like that which comes with religious superiority. It is like the eye saying to the hand, "I have no need of you."

...It is my personal opinion that the charismatic renewal has brought segments of the religious world to needed areas of maturity. For the first time in years and years, men and women of different persuasions are able to sit down and talk without cutting one another to pieces. We have ceased being afraid of one another.

My First Charismatic Conference.

Some years back I was invited to one of the major U.S. cities to take part in a city-wide charismatic conference. This was the first for me and I wasn't sure that I wanted to go.

I gave the matter some thought and prayer. Inwardly I knew it was the right step for me. I accepted the invitations and left for the meetings.

What I saw in the initial services made me a little uneasy. Hundreds of people were in attendance with clergymen of all backgrounds.

During the course of this dinner-meeting,the religious community was invited to stand and identify themselves. To my surprise, the Roman Catholics --priests and nuns-- were in the majority.

I could not believe they were really interested in knowing about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and what God was doing spiritually all over the world. I had come to believe that Roman Catholics and Episcopalians were such dyed-in-the-wool sacramentalists that personal spiritual experiences were of little or no interest to them. In that meeting, I began to get the sneaky hunch that I might have been wrong.

The day after the initial dinner-meeting we conducted our services in one of the local church buildings. My responsibility was to speak morning and evening.

Following my teaching on the baptism in the Holy Spirit that evening I invited those who were interested to stand and express their interest in this way. About half of that audience responded.

The church sanctuary was completely filled so I asked those seated in the right front section to move toward the rear if they were not interested in further instruction and prayer for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Finally, we got everyone settled again.

There in the first rows were Roman Catholic priests and nuns, along with other ministers and workers from various churches. I didn't know exactly what I ought to do.

The reason for my quandry was that I knew the Lord had no intention of filling these people with the Holy Spirit. They belonged to the wrong churches and I was not even sure of their salvation. There was no other step to be taken except that of instruction. This I did with the intention of eventually leading them to prayer.

In my prayer I led these seekers to repeat after me. My prayer would be a request for the forgiveness of sins and the confession that we were fully aware that there was one mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ. I was going to make Protestants out of all these Catholics if I possibly could. After all, this was the only way they could receive something from the Lord.

Mixed Reactions

While I was praying with my eyes closed, my prayer was interrupted. Someone was singing and praising God in another language. In a few minutes, others joined in.

When I opened my eyes to see who it was who was being filled with the Holy Spirit, i was amazed to find the majority of them were obviously Roman Catholics. My reactions were mixed. I was happy for them, while at the same time puzzled. How could this happen? What did it all mean?

The next day the entire scene broke in on me again. All I could say was, "God did it!" I did not lay my hands on them. No one gave them words to say nor did we initiate anything.

God evidently did not care if they were protestants or Catholics and He did not keep the Spirit from them because they wore clerical clothes. The Lord God looked down into the hearts and saw the hunger there. Not a hunger for things, or experiences, or gifts --just a deep and singular hunger and thirst for Him. He mets the hungry and satisfies their mouth with good things. Make no mistake about this.

[Jack Shephard]

Originally Posted by Sam

AMEN!!!!!

I received the HGB on May 20, 1956 at Bethel Tabernacle UPC in Racine, Wisconsin. I attended one year 1956/1957 at the Apostolic Bible Institute in St. Paul, MN. I attended a UPC church here in the Cincinnati area from 1957 until some time in the early nineteen sixties. Then I attended an ALJC church from that time until I left in 1978 or maybe 1979. During that time I was a licensed minister at different times with three different organizations --The Church of Jesus Christ; The Church of Jesus Christ Pentecostal Faith; and the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we heard and read about people known as the Jesus People or the Jesus Freaks, and then later on folks called Charismatics we looked down our righteous noses at them. This couldn't be real. They didn't look like us. They didn't dress like us. They didn't baptize like us. They didn't believe like us. The didn't come to us to receive the Holy Ghost Baptism. We thought we had the exclusive franchise for God's Spirit. They went directly to God with hunger and thirst in their hearts, and, as He promised, He filled them. It took a while for this to soak through my hard head and my proud heart. God is pouring out His Spirit on ALL flesh, not just UPC, PAW, CoJC, ALJC, AMF, GIB flesh, but all flesh just like He said in His Word.

Good post! Me thinks that our hunger for revival has been out weighed by our hunger to see it our way. Our hunger for revival no matter the cost or even the look about it has faded to the point is almost nothing more than a cliche'. I read in the Bible that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. I also read that He changes not. Yet I also read that He does a new work. How can He be the same and yet do something new? Something new suggests doing something that has not been done before. I have come to believe that His makeup isone of changing and doing new things. If He is not a saviour and God that can or will do things new then He is then a liar. That is due to the fact He does a new work. I beleive that He is always doing something new. He is a God that changes things. To think that God will always do things like He has always done it IS NOT SCRIPTURAL. Infact what is scriptural is that HE WILL DO A NEW THING. Again I ask are we like the Jews when Jesus came? As they sat and waited for a Messiah and missed him are we sitting here waiting for a BIG revival to come? When God is known for doing a new thing are we trying to keep His ways in a box that we have built based on how He moved in the past? I think this movement is falling short here....and I love this movement.

[stmatthew]

Originally Posted by JTULLOCK

Good post! Me thinks that our hunger for revival has been out weighed by our hunger to see it our way. Our hunger for revival no matter the cost or even the look about it has faded to the point is almost nothing more than a cliche'. I read in the Bible that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. I also read that He changes not. Yet I also read that He does a new work. How can He be the same and yet do something new? Something new suggests doing something that has not been done before. I have come to believe that His makeup isone of changing and doing new things. If He is not a saviour and God that can or will do things new then He is then a liar. That is due to the fact He does a new work. I beleive that He is always doing something new. He is a God that changes things. To think that God will always do things like He has always done it IS NOT SCRIPTURAL. Infact what is scriptural is that HE WILL DO A NEW THING. Again I ask are we like the Jews when Jesus came? As they sat and waited for a Messiah and missed him are we sitting here waiting for a BIG revival to come? When God is known for doing a new thing are we trying to keep His ways in a box that we have built based on how He moved in the past? I think this movement is falling short here....and I love this movement.

Lets make sure that we stay in context when we use a scripture. The "New Thing" that God spoke of in the old testament was the New Covenant.

[Margies3]

This is probably pretty simplistic viewing, but I saw something tonight that I just have to comment on.................

Walt and I drove past First Apostolic Church in Toledo at 9:15 this evening (Sunday evening) and it was completely dark with not a car in the parking lot. I told Walt that back in the day, church would have just been getting going at 9:15! I can't believe they're closed up, locked up and gone home already.

I guess that it's that kind of thing that tells me that revival is a long way off here. Back when, we were so hungry for God that we would stay and tarry and seek His face until He moved. Sometimes for hours. Sometimes days, sometimes weeks! Today, if God hasn't moved by 8:00, forget it. We have to get home to get ready for work tomorrow. I wonder if God even feels He's welcome and wanted anymore?

Just my thoughts.